The sandbags had been piled into a steep incline.

Without hesitating, Edwin climbed straight up them.

Someone shouted at him to stop, but nobody moved to do so themselves.

The soldiers who recognized Edwin could not apprehend Count Isle recklessly, and the villagers were too startled by his sudden appearance to react in time.

Edwin quickly reached the top of the sandbags.

Just as he tried to climb onto the embankment itself, someone seized him from behind.

“Are you insane? If you climb up there like this, it could collapse! The ground’s unstable—”

It was one of the villagers working nearby.

Edwin immediately shouted furiously.

“Let go! I’m Edwin Isle!”

The sandbags had been piled into a steep incline.

Without hesitating, Edwin climbed straight up them.

Someone shouted at him to stop, but nobody moved to do so themselves.

The soldiers who recognized Edwin could not apprehend Count Isle recklessly, and the villagers were too startled by his sudden appearance to react in time.

Edwin quickly reached the top of the sandbags.

Just as he tried to climb onto the embankment itself, someone seized him from behind.

“What do you think you’re doing right now?! Get back down immediately! What are all of you doing? Someone stop him!”

Her furious voice rang out sharply, but it was too late by then — there was no one left who could stop Edwin.

At last, he pulled himself up onto the embankment.

He looked as though he had rolled straight through a muddy swamp.

Rainwater and mud streamed from his sodden clothes.

“Edwin, what are you doing— no, why on earth are you even here? I told you not to worry about this—”

“How could I not worry?!”

Edwin shouted back.

The fact that she had come to this place without telling him made him feel bitter.

Was it because he was useless?

Was there nothing he could do to help her? Was that why she hadn’t told him?

Edwin breathed heavily.

At first, even the butler had refused to tell him what was happening.

It was only after Edwin repeatedly pressed him for answers, despite the man’s attempts to avoid the subject by claiming to be busy, that he finally learned the truth.

Tears suddenly spilled from Edwin’s eyes.

His emotions were a tangled mess, but none of that mattered as long as Richel was alive.

He took several steps towards her.

With each step, the mud gave way beneath his feet and he sank deeper into the sodden earth.

“Hngh, hng… Richel, let’s go down. It’s too dangerous here, so hurry and come down with me…”

“Edwin! Don’t come any closer! I said stop!”

Richel shouted sharply.

Edwin was standing on the partially collapsed roadway.

The weakened embankment resembled a mound of earth that could collapse at any moment.

She glanced briefly at the river flowing beside them.

The water level had risen far higher than before and was surging forward with a violent roar.

“Don’t move! Go back the way you came and get down immediately. Do you understand how dangerous this is right now—”

“You…! They said, th-the embankment could burst, didn’t they? Then why are you standing here? Why…? Hngh… hic…”

Edwin began to cry.

The ground beneath his feet looked ready to collapse at any second, and unlike everyone else, he had no rope tied around his body.

Forcing herself to remain calm, Richel spoke carefully.

“Edwin, I only came up here to check the situation. I’m fine. It’s safe enough. So go back down right now. Don’t rush—slowly return the way you climbed up…”

“I-I’m fine too. Let’s go down together. Hngh… hng…”

Edwin started to move towards her.

However, his steps were too hurried and his feet sank deep into the mud with every stride.

Richel was just about to scream at him to stop when the ground suddenly gave way beneath him.

The earth collapsed in an instant, like a small landslide, and Edwin slipped down with it, straight towards the river.

“Y-You idiot!”

Richel threw herself forward instantly.

Her body moved before her mind had time to register what was happening.

The moment she grabbed Edwin, the mud around them collapsed.

They both tumbled into the river together.

Splash—

The water was cold enough to pierce straight through to the bone.

They were both swept away by the current.

The flow was far faster and more violent than Richel had anticipated.

The river dragged them mercilessly inwards, pulling them deeper into the rushing current.

Caught in the torrent, they were swept towards the middle of the river in an instant.

Suddenly, the rope tied around Richel’s body snapped taut, bringing them both to a violent halt.

“Hngh! Hng—!”

Richel clung desperately to Edwin.

If she let go of him now, everything would be lost.

There was a rope tied securely around her waist but Edwin had none.

The river roared around them violently.

Wave after wave crashed over their heads, splitting apart in a furious torrent.

Without anything to anchor them, they would surely end up corpses, washed far downstream.

“Edwin—ghk—grab the rope. Hngh… ngh… move… to the side… the riverbank…!”

“The farther we move towards the outer edge, the weaker it should become!”

She desperately hoped that Edwin would be able to grab the rope and make his way to the riverbank.

However, the raging current tossed them around like prey caught in the jaws of a beast. Edwin repeatedly lost his footing, nearly being swept away each time.

All they could do was cling to each other and endure.

Still bound together by the rope, the two of them were dragged violently through the river.

Whenever the current hurled them towards a whirlpool, staying afloat felt like a miracle.

So they held onto each other desperately.

“Hngh—!”

At one point, Richel let out a muffled groan.

Suddenly, the rope tied around her waist tightened with a crushing force.

Someone on the riverbank was pulling the rope, dragging the two of them through the violent current towards it.

This was a standard rescue method.

It’s how people are saved when they’re swept away in floods.

The problem was Richel herself.

She was nowhere near as strong as the villagers or soldiers.

The combined weight of her and Edwin, coupled with the force of the raging current trying to drag them downstream, created an unbearable strain that tore through her body.

‘You have to endure. Somehow… endure until you reach the shore…’

Richel clenched her teeth tightly.

Gradually, the two of them were dragged through the raging current. The river hurled them around mercilessly.

Meanwhile, the rope tied around her body slowly began to slide upwards from her waist, up to her stomach, and then beneath her ribs.

When she felt it catch beneath her ribcage, she almost considered herself lucky.

Pressure against bone hurt less than the rope crushing the center of her stomach.

Once it had tightened around her abdomen, however, it felt as though her flesh were being ripped apart.

“Richel… puh— I’m sorry… hngh…”

Still clinging desperately to her, Edwin apologized repeatedly.

However, most of his words were drowned out by the muddy water rushing into his mouth.

Richel thought the apologies were meaningless.

But she lacked the strength and presence of mind to say so.

By this time, the rope had almost dragged them halfway back to the shore.

Suddenly, Richel screamed.

“Ghah! Aaaah!”

An unbearable pain exploded through the rib where the rope had caught.

It felt as though the bone itself had shattered.

“AAAH!”

The people pulling the rope froze in shock and released their grip.

The raging current immediately tried to pull them back towards the center of the river.

The rope snapped taut and trembled violently.

Richel writhed in agony, struggling helplessly.

Each movement sent waves of excruciating pain through the part of her body where the rope was pressing.

“Richel! Richel!”

Still holding onto her, Edwin shouted desperately.

His hoarse cries continued amidst his gulps of river water.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Richel could not lose consciousness.

Each time the pain struck, it dragged her mind awake again.

Desperately, she forced the words out.

“My rib… hngh… my rib’s broken… ngh… the rope… pressing…”

Edwin’s face contorted with horror.

He tried to grab the rope pressing into her ribs and pull it away.

But the moment his hand touched it, Richel cried out even louder.

With the current battering them so violently, it was impossible to touch the rope without exacerbating the injury.

Gradually, the color drained from Richel’s face.

With each brutal jolt, another scream tore from her lips.

Pale and trembling, Edwin could only stare at her helplessly.

There was nothing else he could do.

Nothing left to try.

“N-No… I’ll let go. Hngh… if they just pull you out…”

Amid the freezing water crashing over them from every direction, he spoke in a trembling voice.

The corners of his eyes burned hot.

“I’m sorry… ngh… I’m sorry. Because of me… you don’t have to keep enduring this…”

“No… not that… ngh— ahh—!”

For a completely different reason, Richel felt as though she were losing her mind.

When she told Edwin about her injury, she wanted him to inform the others quickly.

If she had wanted him to go, she wouldn’t have jumped in after him in the first place.

Seeing someone die right before her eyes made her feel sick with hatred.

“Someone else… hngh… can come in… and take you—AAH! Hngh… agh!”

“Richel! D-Don’t talk—”

Richel suddenly felt Edwin’s arms loosen around her.

She could not see his face clearly through the rain and raging water but she knew exactly what he was trying to do.

Before he could act, she wrapped her legs tightly around him.

Edwin’s body began slipping away from hers only to stop abruptly against her hold.

Using every last bit of strength left in her legs, Richel clung to him desperately.

Perhaps the rope had shifted away from the rib it had been crushing, because the pain no longer felt as unbearable as before.

Or perhaps her fury had simply become so overwhelming that she could no longer feel the pain at all.

Gathering every ounce of strength she had left, she screamed at him.

“You f*cking idiot!!”

Looking through the crashing waves, she saw Edwin’s eyes widen.

She pulled her legs up to her chest and grabbed handfuls of his wet clothes.

This was, of course, only a temporary reprieve.

Her hands slipped under the force of the rushing water, and the strength in her body soon began to fade, too.

She screamed desperately.

“Hold on!! You— ngh— hold on—!”

Startled by her frantic struggle, Edwin grabbed her again.

He had only meant to calm her down, but he held onto her regardless of the reason.

Her legs finally gave way immediately afterwards.

Water crashed over their faces.

But Edwin was not swept away.

“Keep… hngh… holding on… ngh…”

She repeated the words over and over again.

The agony that had felt unbearable just moments earlier had now turned to numbness.

Fortunately, that was the case.

Her entire body felt weak and lifeless, yet she still had to endure.

It was Edwin who truly had to endure now.

She no longer had the strength to hold onto him.

Again and again, Richel forced the words out.

“Hold on… hold on…”

Muddy water flooded into her mouth countless times, but she continued to speak desperately nonetheless.

The way Edwin tried to tear himself away from her was unbearably horrifying.

Witnessing someone dying right before her eyes terrified her more than anything.

Edwin pulled her tightly into his arms.

“Hngh… Stop talking. Richel… ngh… you don’t have to talk anymore. I’m sorry.”

Those were the last words Richel remembered.